The Tallinn city government and Jüri Tamm, the Honorary Consul of Monaco in Estonia, have signed an agreement establishing an electric car rally between Tallinn and Monte Carlo.

The route of the Tallinn - Monte Carlo Electric Race 2011, which will run from June 2 to 11, will cross Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland and Italy before reaching Monaco.

Tamm, who is himself the project's organizer, told ERR News that the race is meant to both promote the use of environmentally-friendly vehicles and establish better links between northern and southern Europe.

He said he expects about 10 to 20 entrants to participate in the whole route, with others joining for only a portion of the stages. The number of entrants is limited by the number of electric charging points available at the end of each stage.

Racers will have to adhere to the rules of the public road, so drivers will be given points for finishing of each stage precisely at an appointed time, with points deducted for each minute they arrive early or late, Tamm explained.

The event is expected to be an opportunity for electric car producers to both test and showcase their latest models, and for private owners to simply take up the challenge of a European auto tour.

The rally harkens back to similar Tallinn - Monte Carlo races that took place in the 1930s, Tamm said.

Chairman of the Social Democratic Party (SDE) and former minister of health and labour, Jevgeni Ossinovski expects poverty in Estonia to decrease as an effect of the current government's income tax reform, though the actual impact will become clear only after data is evaluated next year.